NOTE: The original post, below, was published on 3/10/2013. Since then, the best workaround I know of is the one suggested below, to turn off “time zone” support in the iOS device’s Settings’ Privacy->Locations, and reboot the iDevice . If you are on iOS 6.1.2 or 6.1.3, I highly recommend doing this before using an external GPS.
In iOS 7.0 and above the bug is fixed.
3/10/2013
A week ago Scott Lindsay, a CloudAhoy user, reported a problem: after upgrading to Apple’s iOS 6.1.2, his Dual XGPS150 stopped working with both CloudAhoy and with ForeFlight running on his iPad (Scott’s name is used with his permission).
I did not succeed in recreating the problem on CloudAhoy’s devices using a variety of external GPS devices under iOS 6.1.2. All my GPSs worked just fine with CloudAhoy.
Then several other users reported a similar problem with their external GPSs after upgrading to iOS 6.1.2.
It appears that iOS 6.1.2 may have a new bug which affects some users. The symptoms according to Scott: CloudAhoy correctly displays the name of the external GPS, and Dual’s Status Tool app shows good reception, but no GPS data arrives at the app.
If you have not upgraded yet to iOS 6.1.2, I suggest not to upgrade. Stay with 6.1.
If you have already upgraded, pre-flight your configuration on the ground as follows, to check whether you are affected by the bug.
- Set Airplane Mode, to disable the internal GPS.
- Enable Bluetooth.
- Turn on your external GPS, let it run for a minute or two so it locks on satellite signals.
- Start CloudAhoy and verify that the GPS is listed in the GPS field.
- Tap START and check whether you get a green light. If you do, you are not affected by the bug.
The following seems to fix the problem.
- Open the device’s Settings.
- Tap General, scroll down and tap Reset.
- Select Reset Location & Privacy. Tap Reset.
- After this reset, each app using the GPS (CloudAhoy after tapping START, ForeFlight, etc.) will ask for permission to use your current location. It’s a one-time only thing.
- Check whether the problem is solved. If you like, share your experience here in this log.
5/5/2013
A user published the following workaround on CloudAhoy’s Facebook page . See the Facebook page for the complete message.
… they sent me an email saying that I should turn off “time zone” support in the Privacy/Locations tab and reboot the iDevice. So far, this seems to have worked!
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A brief history of iOS problems with external GPSs:
- Apple’s iOS 5.x – no problem, works perfectly.
- Apple’s iOS 6.0, released in September 2012, had a bug that adversely affected the use of all external bluetooth GPS devices. This blog reported the problem.
- Apple’s iOS 6.1, released January 28 2013, had a fix to the external GPS problem. Works perfectly.
- Apple’s iOS 6.1.2, released 2/19/2013, may have a new bug related to bluetooth GPS devices.
- Apple’s iOS 6.1.3, released 3/19/2013, seems to have the same bug as 6.1.2.
- Apple’s iOS 7.0, released 9/26/2013, seems to have fixed the bug.
Happened to me today. If you check out my last flight you can see that it was tracked, but it did not have good resolution.
My last few flights have started ok, but lose connection during the flights and sometimes pick back up at the end. Will have to see if this is causing the issue.
I edited the post and added a workaround.
I have had no end of problems with iOS 6 and my external GPS. Basically it makes my iPad unusable for aviation because I can’t rely on it.
iOS 6.1.3 is out, and from first indications it does not look like the 6.1.2 bug has been fixed.
I have iOS 6.1.3, and it still has the bug. However, your workaround seems to work fine on the ground. I haven’t tried it in the air yet, but surmise it will work ok.
I have had sporadic problems, but if I once get a green light, the entire flight has been recorded well. Occasionally I had the same problem before upgrading to iOS 6.1.x. I have not tried resetting location and privacy, but I did try turning off and on Location Services. Also tried having the iPad forget the Dual and then paired the devices again. What always eventually has worked, though it took two attempts last time, is forgetting the Network Settings. Between re-pairing the device, turning on the Airplane mode, turning on Bluetooth, and forgetting the Network Settings, I have been able to establish solid communication between the Dual and CloudAhoy. The order of these things may matter, or maybe it is something else. Persistence has eventually always paid off. So far. Forgetting network settings is a pain because you have to enter them again next time you want to use the network. Currently using 6.1.2.
Hi Laurie. Thanks for the useful tips. It seems that the bug affects mostly newer equipment – iPhone 5′s and iPad minis. My guess is that the bug might be related to the bluetooth hardware in these new devices. By now it’s clear that 6.1.3 also has the same bug. So we have to wait for the next version for a fix.
I have an iPad 2. I think I saw the problem with 6.1, thought that could be wrong. Pretty sure the last 5.x was OK.
Thanks for posting this.
Have the same problem on my wifi-only iPad 3, with an XGPS (which until now have been very reliable together).
Whilst the Dual GPS Status Tool shows the XGPS to be functioning, no app using Location Services (Apple Maps, TomTom, RouteBuddy) receive GPS data.
The suggested fixes aren’t working for me, and neither does re-powering the iPad or re-pairing it with the XGPS.
Hoping for a fix in 6.1.4 soon :-/
I was going to try a power down next time I had the problem; I guess it may not help. I would recommend persistence. I spent about 20 minutes re-setting the network settings, re-pairing the bluetooth, and turning off and on the location services – over and over, in different orders! Finally, the thing started to work. I have a Dual and an iPad 2, Wi-Fi only. Same symptoms you had. It has been working for a while now.
iPad 2, iOS 6.1.3, WingX 6.9.1.1, and XGPS150. The order of things I’ve found to be reliable is this: delete the pairing, reset location & privacy (only), reboot the iPad, add the pairing back, go into the Dual GPS Status app and wait for it to be stable, then start WingX and tell it you want to allow it to use location. It’s then stable.
To make it unstable again, start any other application that uses location services. Starting (for instance) iFlightPlanner causes the connection to drop away.
I have updated the original message. A user posted a surprising workaround on Facebook – see above.
Have you verified that this bug is really fixed in IOS 7?
Yes, it seems to be fixed in the beta version of iOS 7.
Have you checked the version that was released today?
No, not yet.
I know that this iOS 6 bug is a major pain, but still I would suggest that users wait a bit before upgrading to iOS 7. Even if the external GPS problem is solved in today’s release, there might be new issues.
The Dual 150 and Dual 170 are listed as compatible external GPS devices. How about the more recent Dual 160?
I believe that it should work fine with the 160, but we have not yet tested with it, and have not received users’ feedback. If any of the readers used the Dual 160, please let us know how well it worked with CloudAhoy.
I ordered a Dual XGPS160 and tried it with Cloudahoy in flight today. It works just fine and is a definite improvement over the internal iPad GPS. The flight tracks with the iPad GPS indicated that significant portions of the flight were being interpolated between GPS points. The track with the external Dual GPS is rock solid.
Good to know! Thanks.
second time I have used cloud ahoy tried it last year and was not impressed, being a glider pilot and using several data loggers, the last two flights were great source of info although I have had the same problems as noted above. (have not used the web to debrief yet) with a good solid gps signal i found that both the alt.and vert speed could use some smoothing !